Nagato's eyes turned cold as he watched the scene unfold. He had expected Jiraiya's arrival to at least take one or two of the Pains off Natsuro's hands.
However, it seemed that wasn't going to happen.
Natsuro had no intention of letting Jiraiya assist, and Jiraiya himself seemed to place absolute trust in him.
Were they really so confident that the Sixth Hokage could take him on alone?
Even Nagato couldn't help but feel a surge of anger at that thought. He let out a cold snort.
"Hmph. Natsuro, I acknowledge that your strength is impressive, but in the face of a god's power, all resistance is futile."
With that, Pain activated his ability for the first time.
"Banshō Ten'in!" (Universal Pull!)
However, the Natsuro that was supposed to be drawn toward Deva Pain showed no movement.
Deva Pain's Rinnegan narrowed in confusion.
"A… afterimage?"
As the image of Natsuro slowly dissipated, all of the Pains immediately went on high alert, scanning their surroundings.
Finally, they spotted him, standing atop a large tree.
But it was already too late.
Natsuro had completed his hand seals.
Looking down at the five remaining Pains, he suddenly asked, "Have you ever witnessed true godspeed?"
"Swift Release: Instantaneous Step!"
The next moment, Natsuro vanished, even from the Rinnegan's vision!
Deva Pain's sense of unease surged.
If he couldn't track his opponent's movements…
"Shinra Tensei!!" (Almighty Push!)
A powerful repulsive force erupted outward from Deva Pain, sweeping through everything in its path.
But it had nothing to do with Natsuro.
Because in his eyes, the entire world had slowed to a crawl.
Under normal circumstances, Natsuro didn't even need to perform hand seals to activate Swift Release.
But when he deliberately formed seals for it, that meant he was using Swift Release at its absolute maximum potential.
At this level, his speed had reached terrifying levels.
There's a saying: The faster you go, the slower time appears to move.
And right now, in Natsuro's perception, time itself had stretched, everything moved at a fraction of its normal pace.
Not just the Pains.
Everything.
Leaves that had been falling from the trees seemed frozen in midair, as if it would take centuries for them to reach the ground.
In this world of extreme slow motion, Natsuro was the only one unaffected.
He moved.
Appearing behind one of the Pains, he extended his hand, forming a Rasengan.
Gently, he pressed it against the target's body.
Then, he repeated the process.
Again.
And again.
Four times in total.
"Rasengan: Quadruple Strike!"
Finally, Natsuro returned to his original position.
And then…
He snapped his fingers.
"Boom!"
The moment the sound rang out, everything snapped back to normal speed.
And at that instant...
Four of the five remaining Pains were slammed into the ground, buried deep into the earth, creating four separate impact craters.
Dust and debris erupted into the air.
The lingering remnants of Natsuro's afterimages flickered behind them, their bodies still twisting under the force of the Rasengan as they were driven into the ground.
"What… is this?!"
Deva Pain's Rinnegan widened in disbelief.
What just happened?
Why had four of them been taken down instantly?
At that moment, he recalled Natsuro's earlier words.
True godspeed?
No way…
Pain's pupils contracted.
As unbelievable as it seemed, this was the only explanation.
And now, he found himself in an awkward position.
Pain's strength came from its division of abilities.
But against an opponent like Natsuro, splitting his powers like this was a massive disadvantage.
The Human Path's ability to extract souls? Useless, since it required the target to be physically restrained. Natsuro was far beyond their reach.
The Preta Path's chakra absorption? Too slow, unable to react in time before being crushed.
The Naraka Path, meant for reviving the others? Gone, eliminated before it could even be used.
As for the Animal Path?
With its summons being countered, it was effectively irrelevant.
And now that it had been defeated, the five summoned creatures poofed out of existence, leaving behind nothing but empty space.
The summoned beasts that had been fighting them were momentarily surprised.
"Wait, what? Already?!"
It had barely been a few moments, yet Natsuro had already wiped them out.
"Hmph."
Manda let out a disdainful snort.
Without another word, the massive serpent disappeared, dissolving its summoning contract.
"This is… unbelievable."
Gamabunta was stunned, his wide eyes locked onto Natsuro.
"Did the clumsy me at least manage to help…?" Gamaken muttered, looking down at Natsuro.
"Tch. That was kinda underwhelming."
Gamahiro sheathed his blade.
He had initially been worried when he saw their opponents wielding the Rinnegan.
But now, it seemed like that worry had been completely unnecessary.
It seemed Gamahiro had worried for nothing, Natsuro's current strength was far beyond what they could have imagined.
"Alright, let's not stay here any longer. Let's go back," Gamabunta said.
With that, the three great toads dispersed, leaving only the slug behind.
Among all the summoned beasts, only the slug showed no surprise at Natsuro's overwhelming display of power.
Although it was merely a fragment of the main body, it retained the memories of the original.
While others might not have fully grasped Natsuro's strength, the slug, which had watched him train in Shikkotsu Forest, knew better than anyone.
In its eyes, he had already surpassed the First Hokage, at this point, he was practically invincible in the ninja world.
The slug couldn't help but sigh.
They had always believed that if someone followed this path to the end, they would rival the First Hokage.
But none of them had expected that Natsuro's power would reach such overwhelming levels.
The slug looked at him again, this time with a different thought in mind.
Perhaps this path itself wasn't necessarily so strong.
But because it was Natsuro walking this path, it had become something unparalleled.
Even though the main body of the slugs spent most of its time sleeping, it was well aware of Natsuro's relentless efforts in Shikkotsu Forest.
That's why he had reached such incredible heights.
With that final thought, the slug, too, disappeared.
Down below, Pain wasn't the only one left stunned, Jiraiya was also completely dumbfounded.
In just an instant, without him even blinking, four of the Pains had been taken down.
And it wasn't even with some godly technique.
They were defeated with Rasengan!
Natsuro… had already become so powerful?
So powerful that it was beyond his comprehension…
Jiraiya swallowed hard.
For a brief moment, he felt glad that he hadn't stepped in.
Even if he activated Sage Mode, he would only be a burden to him at this point.
Meanwhile, Natsuro, who had just executed his godspeed assault, was feeling the backlash.
A tearing pain spread through his entire body.
He couldn't help but sigh.
As expected, "Instantaneous Steps" wasn't something that could be used recklessly.
To handle this kind of extreme velocity, he needed something like a 555 belt with photon blood and an armor system (Note: Reference to the Kamen Rider Series).
Right now, with his physical body enduring the strain of such speeds, even he could only last so long.
Still…
Even if he couldn't maintain it for long, pulling off a six-hit Rasengan combo would still be easy.
The only reason he hadn't landed a hit on Deva Pain as well was because Pain had already activated his repulsive force field.
Even in Swift Release Mode, closing the distance would be risky.
He had to admit, Pain's instant reaction had saved him.
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Currently on Chapter 351 - The Inner World of the Tailed Beasts